Bengo’s latest news clippings 2012.01.12
1. Chinese premier to bolster Gulf energy ties
CNN January 11, 2012
in Abu Dhabi and in Beijing
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, pictured in Kuta, Indonesia in November, heads to the Gulf this week.
- Wen visit will be most senior Chinese mission to Mideast since Hu's in 2009
- Yanbu facility at Red Sea port is Sinopec's first overseas refinery
- Chinese oil companies have landed several service contracts in Iraq
- Wen is said to be skipping Tehran on visit
China will this week launch its highest-level diplomatic visit to the Gulf for more than two years, seeking to bolster its growing energy ties to the region amid jitters over possible western sanctions on Iranian oil and Tehran's counter-threat to block the Strait of Hormuz.
Premier Wen Jiabao's six-day trip will take him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, while China's state-owned Sinopec is poised to sign a joint venture deal to develop a big refinery on the Saudi Red Sea Coast.
Rising tensions between Iran and its Arab oil producing neighbors have highlighted the delicate path Beijing needs to tread to preserve both as big oil suppliers, while unrest across the Middle East has triggered wider concerns in China about its dependence on the region's oil.
"Half of China's oil imports are sourced from the Middle East, so the region's instability is a major concern," said Ben Simpfendorfer, founder of Silk Road Associates, a Hong Kong based consultancy. "Conflict with Iran tops the lists of worries, should it disrupt physical oil supplies. There is also the risk that the Middle East starts to call on China to play a bigger role in the region, no different to the other major powers."
2. Romney Wins New Hampshire Primary
Jan 11, 2012
Mitt Romney cemented his status as the Republican presidential front-runner yesterday with a win in the New Hampshire primary that left rivals fighting for a chance to derail his march to the nomination as the race moves south.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who won the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses by eight votes, ran 16 percentage votes ahead of his nearest competitor in New Hampshire, the nation’s first primary.
He had 39 percent of the vote, with 95 percent of the precincts counted in the Associated Press tally. U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas finished second with 23 percent, followed by former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. with 17 percent.
“Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we go back to work,” Romney told supporters in Manchester last night in a speech that debuted new lines of attack against President Barack Obama.
Romney told his audience the president he hopes to oppose in November “has run out of ideas” and is “running out of excuses.”
South Carolina Contest
Referring to the next primary on Jan. 21, Romney added: “Tonight, we’re asking the good people of South Carolina to join the citizens of New Hampshire and make 2012 the year he runs out of time.”
Romney made history as the first Republican non-incumbent to win both the New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucuses since Iowa began kicking off the party’s presidential nominating process in 1976.
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